With his players falling like flies, Andrew Strauss is dealt another blow as the Irishman’s place at the forthcoming World Cup is placed in jeopardy

E
ngland’s hopes of doing well in the World Cup for the first time in almost 20 years suffered a serious blow yesterday with the news that Eoin Morgan, arguably their best one-day batsman, has fractured the middle finger of his left hand. Morgan first felt pain in the hand during the fourth one-dayer against Australia in Adelaide 11 days ago, since when he has played twice, scoring 2 and 21. He was ruled out of the final ODI in Perth today and is flying home for specialist advice about whether he can go to the World Cup.

Given that the tournament lasts six weeks, England will want to give Morgan every chance to be fit for the later stages, but it might mean carrying an injured player in their 15-man squad during the early group games.

England are already concerned about the fitness of a number of other players, notably